No manager could have overcome injuries like that.
And no matter who the manager is, he cannot overcome poor decisions like these.
- In Oakland, here was the reaction of Howe's former bench coach and current A's manager, Ken Macha: "I'm sure he went there with a purpose to turn it around. It's tough to perform when your team has all those injuries."
- Tired of waiting for the Chicago Cubs to run away with the wild-card chase? Despite seemingly having the best roster, it has been a tough season for Dusty Baker's club, and one of the many reasons for the struggles is that Mark Prior isn't exactly pitching as he did late last season, when he reeled off a 10-1 stretch beginning last Aug. 4. Prior doesn't even feel like the same guy, saying he has been prepared for this season but simply has never gotten into a groove with his mechanics.
- Florida pitcher Carl Pavano might or might not factor in the NL Cy Young award this season, but he should win an award for his sense of humor. When the Marlins played Montreal in Chicago's Park Formerly Known as Comiskey last week, he left four tickets to Friday's game for Steve Bartman -- the Cubs fan who interfered with the foul ball during last year's NLCS, aiding the Marlins. Pavano made it clear he was joking and that he wasn't trying to antagonize Cubs fans.
- As Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times noted during the Marlins' appearance, it was the first time since 1918 that a defending World Series champ played a home game in Chicago. "That last time a World Series champion played a home game in this city, Charlie Chaplin was doing silent films," the acerbic columnist noted. Oh, by the way, how's that Cubs wild-card bid going this year?
- Florida first baseman Jeff Conine on the Marlins bouncing around the country and playing hurricane-induced makeup games: "You can't get any more chaotic than this month for us. This whole month is going to stick in my head for quite some time. I've been in the big leagues for a fair amount of time, and I've never seen anything like it."
- Former Yankee David Wells on Kevin Brown's broken hand: "For Kevin to do what he did is unbelievable. He's hurting his team, but he knows it. He was riding his emotions. He's been that way his whole career. I'm a very emotional pitcher, too. I get crazy. But I'd rather throw things than punch things. It's amazing. Anything and everything could happen in New York -- and it does."
- Forget chewing tobacco, today's new breed of baseball players have other tricks. So there was Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter the other day, drinking a Starbucks vanilla bean frappucino during batting practice before a game in Detroit. Seems he had seen one of the Detroit groundskeepers drinking one the day before and he kidded her about it. "She said, 'I can bring you one tomorrow' and I said, 'Whatever -- you're not going to bring me one tomorrow,'" Hunter said. When she did and Hunter lost his bet, he gave her a bat.
- Big day for Los Angeles on Friday, when Brad Penny is scheduled to throw a second simulated game. If everything turns out OK, he is expected to resume his role in the Los Angeles rotation sometime next week in San Diego.
- Arizona's Randy Johnson may be only 14-13, but in my book, he should be the leading candidate to win the NL Cy Young award. He has been the best pitcher in the NL, and aside from perhaps Roger Clemens, nobody else is having a standout year to bypass Johnson, who passed Steve Carlton for most strikeouts ever by a lefty Wednesday. Johnson leads the NL with 279 strikeouts and a 2.74 ERA.
- St. Louis needed that solid start from Matt Morris on Wednesday night (two earned runs in seven innings), and so did Morris. He had lasted two innings or fewer in three of his past 10 starts and admitted this week to some lower back pain. Entering Wednesday's game, his 4.69 ERA was more than 1.40 higher than his lifetime ERA.
- Owner, owner: Detroit owner and Little Caesar's pizza magnate Mike Ilitch made a rare public appearance this week, during which he called this his most enjoyable season "by far" since purchasing the Tigers in 1992, and indicated he will be prepared to spend some money on free agents this winter like he did during last winter's successful spree and claimed the Tigers were going to lose between $30 million and $35 million if they had drawn only their projected 1.3 million in attendance. Instead, the Tigers now appear headed toward the 2 million mark.
- On second thought: Since trading No. 5 starter Ismael Valdez to Florida, San Diego's fifth starters have gone winless in eight games.
- Seattle has Ichiro tracking George Sisler, and Cincinnati has Adam Dunn stalking Bobby Bonds. Dunn is on pace for 191 strikeouts, which would break Bonds' record 189 set in 1970.
- Keep an eye on slumping Los Angeles right fielder Milton Bradley, who has a team-high 114 strikeouts and has been dropped from third to sixth in the order. With a slim lead over San Francisco in the NL West, the Dodgers can't have Bradley disappear on them down the stretch.
- Life and times in Baltimore: The Orioles have had stretches this season in which they've gone 11-2, 0-12 and 6-0. Indications remain that owner Peter Angelos is less than enamored with the job manager Lee Mazzilli is doing.
- Of course, things aren't a whole lot better -- still -- in Baltimore's farm system: Left-handed pitcher Adam Loewen, who got a $4 million bonus as their top pick in the 2002 draft, has a partially torn labrum and outfielder Val Majewski, their top positional prospect, also has a partially torn labrum.
- Then there is this fitting statistic form Birdland: David Segui, headed for free agency (or the local hospital, it's always tough to tell with him) following the season, will finish this campaign on the disabled list. Which means -- drum roll, please -- for four years and $28 million, Segui will have played in 193 of a possible 650 games as an Oriole. Ouch.
Tinman1188 
